Behavior Change Strategies for the Individual

The counseling and education done in conjunction with the Wellness Card in The Wellness Center and clinical health promotion in Student Health Services each require use these techniques of behavior change.

Client Center Counseling

This text is from the web page of Matthew Ryan at http://world.std.com/~mbr2/cct.html . He has listed many links and resources.

Client-centered counseling (CCC) was developed by Carl Rogers in the 40's and 50's. It is a non-directive approach to counseling. "Directive" means any counselor behavior that deliberately steers the client in some way. Directive behaviors include asking primarily closed ended questions (require yes or no answers), offering treatments, and making interpretations and diagnoses. Virtually all forms of counseling practiced in the US are directive.

A non-directive approach is very appealing to many clients, because they get to keep control over the content and pace of the counseling. It is intended to serve them. The counselor isn't evaluating them in any way or trying to "figure them out".

If the educator isn't interjecting their own opinions, beliefs, judgments and biases, what is the he or she doing? The answer is, whatever the client brings to it. The underlying beliefs of CCC are that people tend to move toward growth and healing, and have the capacity to find their own answers. This tendency is helped along by an accepting and understanding climate, which the CC therapist seeks to provide above all else.

A CC educator/counselor:

• Listens and tries to understand how things are from the client's point of view.
• Checks that understanding with the client if unsure. Paraphrasing may be used.
• Treats the client with the utmost respect and regard.
• There is also a mandate for the educator to be "congruent" or "transparent" - which means being self-aware, self-accepting, and having no mask between oneself and the client. The educator/counselor knows him/herself and is willing to be known.

In CCC, people unravel their own opinions, beliefs, judgments and biases. They discover new things and don't have to cope with a counselor who is doing things to them. The counselor strives to understand and accept the client's stuff, which is no simple feat. Over time, the client increasingly seeks to understand and accept their stuff too.

The most significant variables in the effectiveness of counseling are aspects of the relationship and the counselor's personal development - not the particular discipline they practice or techniques they employ. CC counselors focus more attention on these variables than counselors in any other discipline.

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